The Reluctant Heroes
by rwbybomb21
Summary: She was all that was left, and she saw horrors, death, heard screams, pleas, made haunting decisions, suffered and sacrificed. Now, she pays tribute to the reluctant-to-die heroes. Massive character death. slight suicide.
1. Chapter 1

**Based off of the song 'The Reluctant Heroes', form the anime Attack On Titan –Shingeki No Kyojin- so you can already tell this will get depressing. **

**I don't own RWBY, or the song from the AOT anime.**

**Have fun crying.**

**(^^^^^^)**

You could almost hear the sad, melodic, almost melancholy piano music in the background of this scenario, for here she was, caked in blood, looking up at the sky as the dawn finally bore the sun into witness.

But maybe she didn't want to be here, like her sister who wasn't, her girlfriend who wasn't, and her best friends who weren't.

She was alone, and this ripped her insides out, threw them back in, and sewed her stomach shut again.

It tore her heart up just staring at the puffy white clouds that drifted over the sun, past it as the sun beamed down on her face, shining rays onto her pale white skin as if saluting her for her hard work.

What hard work?

She had watched the life drain form the seven people she cared most for, and she had watched countless others be eaten alive, decapitated, skewered, smashed, stabbed, sliced, dismembered, had their torsos removed...

...it all only happened an hour ago. An hour ago she was on the battlefield, shouting orders to those she was closest to; she had led them to their deaths.

Ozpin was dead, Glynda Goodwitch was dead, and Yang, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, Cardin, Sky, Coco and Velvet were all dead too; all dying in horrific ways, scarring her for life, playing themselves behind her eyes in her dreams every time she fell asleep, scarring her already jigsaw-like mind, and torturing her already tortured soul more.

What she had seen not five minutes ago though as she killed the last one, the last Ursa Major to storm out of the woods, would never be replaced with anything else, never leave her mind, staying there as the apex of her torture.

She had seen the one she had looked up to, cower and raise her gauntlet to her head, whispering a prayer that Ruby had taught her before cocking the gauntlets and blowing apart her face, instantly killing herself.

Ruby saw why she would do such a thing; she, herself, had contemplated such a way out: Such a cease to the pain, violence around her.

Yet she carried on: why? Why did she carry on for the dead?

You don't fight for the dead, you fight for the living.

Yet she fought for Yang, for Weiss, for Blake and for Jaune, for Nora and Ren, for Pyrrha and Coco and Velvet, for Cardin and Sky and Dove, hell, she even fought for Ozpin and Glynda.

Why, why had she done that?

One simple word: memories. Yang had taught her memories are what drive us, what make us stronger, powerful, emotion gone and love replaced by hate; she didn't hate anymore, she didn't love anymore, and nor could she.

She could only watch, fight to live, die to survive, and live to die. Her mission was to survive the next day, her life's mission was to fight to live, to succeed in accepting death doesn't get to touch you today, or tomorrow.

She wrapped Yang's yellow scarf around her face, remembering the scent of lavender her hair always smelled of.

She tightened the bow that she had taken from Blake's dying hands, at her command, around her forearm and sighed.

She reluctantly looked down to the white boots she had wore as Weiss had gifted them to her for her seventeenth birthday.

That was the hardest part: Weiss had opened her childish heart to the world, showing her what lay beyond being happy, what love felt like.

She looked over her shoulder to see four groups of bandaged, bloodied and scarred hunters and huntresses, and stood with her back straight, her eyes forward, and her hands at her sides.

The 'soldiers followed her suit, and everyone saluted her, some with three fingers, others with half-faces.

All wearing that of a smile of pride.

She just stared, saluted back, and looked down again.

The grave in front of her said 'To the heroes of Beacon: reluctant to forget, hesitant to let down, happy to remember'.

"Reluctant heroes..." she looked down to the part of the grave that said Yang Xiao Long, then to Weiss' side, then Blake's. She huffed, smiled slightly, saluted it and walked off, past the saluting hunters.

"...Suits them perfectly."

(^^^^^^)

**...I'm a horrid person...**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, somehow, this has become pretty popular, considering it was a one shot. So, with all the requests for another chapter- most of the PM'd to me- I shall oblige and make this a two shot!**

**Enjoy.**

**Song: Vogel Im Kajig**

(^^^^^^)

Death: It's one way to describe everything right now.

But right now I'm probably too busy keeping away from death to think clearly about it. Ruby was chosen to lead the entirety of Beacon for a reason, and now...now...now I'm so proud of her. But I can't keep this up. It's too difficult to carry on without getting hurt more, hurting others more, slowing others down a lot more.

Mum told me that two things were like one; life was like death, because they both leave an impact on the world and people around us. The second was that there is only one way to go, and that's to die as you lived.

I suppose I lived as a coward then. I pray to all those in the heavens and whoever else is up there to watch over Ruby, to keep that little excitable, child-like mind free of these horrors: our uncle is still scarred from one of the wars he was in, so I just hope that Ruby doesn't suffer this. I've seen what it can do to people; shatter them, break them down from strong to snivelling and weak, to nothing from something.

I see her looking at me with pleading eyes while fending off the rest of the Ursa and Grimm erupting from the forest. It was painful to look at, that look in her eye, the one that said 'Don't, please', but I couldn't keep going anymore.

Look at me, Yang Xiao Long, the greatest and strongest in Beacon, was buckling under the pressure of war. That's what this was; invasions don't slaughter without forgiveness, occupations don't murder children and scar their parents for life, or murder mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers in front of each other with almost sickening joy.

This is war, and here I am, Yang Xiao Long, buckling under the pressure, leaving Ruby alone. But as I look over to the growing horde as I look at my gauntlet to see one more shell left, I think of Ruby!

As I lift it to my face, looking way from the tearful face of my little sis, the one I practically raised from the age of four, the one that was practically a daughter to me more than a sister, and as I press it to my temple, I think of Ruby!

Summer told me once that when you think of someone when you die, you get to watch over them from wherever you go when you die.

So, as I pulled the trigger to my shotgun gauntlets, flashing a bright, blinding light from the barrel and blowing half my pink, squelchy brains all over the dirty, mudded floor, I thought of Ruby.

But the one thing I hoped for was that Ruby would stop thinking about me.

(^^^^^^)

Ruby was her reason, if she didn't have any she would be doing what Yang did just then; blowing her brains out or perhaps stabbing herself, a blow to the heart: quick way's to die suddenly filled her mind, but they weren't her thoughts, they were hysteria's, a thought process to those that had no hope.

She looked to the side of her in Ruby's direction, and her hope returned.

She saw Ruby, fighting stronger than she ever thought she could, and smiled sadly as her rapier snapped against the tough hide of a Deathstalker. Then brought her attention to the great lumbering beast, too injured to dodge its' pincer attack and hope her aura held out.

Apparently, the world loved screwing with her, because as the pincer cleaved straight through her aura and smashed her ribs to dust, she saw Ruby look her way, and watched as an Ursa rammed her with the force of a freight train.

She watched her beloved little rose do something unexpected though; she didn't dodge it, she released a war cry and slammed her scythe so hard into its' face it literally shattered the Ursa's mask in two, cracking its skull.

The same could be said about Weiss;' skull too.

Red coated her vision, swamping her eyes with blood and crimson.

She couldn't tell if Ruby was there or not, but the soft voice begging her to be alright was enough proof she needed.

She beckoned Ruby closer and whispered the three words she should have told her at the beginning of this war, this battle for life, this sacrificial lamb-to-the-slaughter scenario.

Weiss then kissed Ruby with renewed vigour, but it wasn't enough to help her live.

Ruby looked into her fading blue eyes, saddened and grief-stricken as she felt Weiss' grip on her hand lessen until it was no more.

Weiss Schnee, the one to take Ruby out of her childish delusion of ever-lasting happiness and peace was dead.

Ruby may as well have died there as well, but she persevered.

(^^^^^^)

Tonight was the same; she awoke screaming, eyes wide and sweat practically flowing down her face, hands in an iron grip on the velvety white, pristine sheets. Her eyes calmed, her hands unclenched, her form sagged, and she huffed as she looked at the small, digital, green displayed alarm clock to her side.

It was only 4:56.

She counted in her head the four seconds and just like that, her bedroom door split open with her two new teammates, fresh out of Signal and heading to Beacon, with their weapons drawn and faces drawn into a scowl.

Immediately, Fox's attitude went from angered and pestered to concerned and worried. Ruby may be his team leader, and she may have been in the war as a hero, a Huntress General, no less, but she was like a sister to him.

His fox ears dropped down as he walked over, patting Russell on the shoulder to tell him to stand down as well, and walked over, sitting in front of his now irritated leader and looking at her with concern. She just shook her head and stood, walking robotically over to her wardrobe and opening a door, covering her from the view of her teammates as she changed.

With Ozpin and Glynda gone, professor Ironwood from Atlas made Professor Peach, the only professor that wasn't at the war at that point, the new headmaster, and didn't doubt she could do excellent things.

Ruby, after thinking over her new position as Head of Students- Glynda's old position- and getting dressed, led her two teammates to meet with the third one in the cafeteria. She never went anywhere without Yang's scarf, Blake's bow and Weiss' boots. She still had her cloak, which still bore the scorches of battle and the rips and tears in it.

Everywhere she went the students went silent, merely out of respect for the strong warrior in front of them.

But that didn't mean she didn't hate the silence. Yang always wouldv'e found a way to make things happier, louder and smile all the time. Blake would have stuck in with the occasional joke and Weiss with her constant snipping. JNPR would have helped with the cheeriness.

They didn't have that privilege anymore, but Ruby kept the memories, the good ones, up there in her mind- not th eones that plague her every night, but the ones that keep her alive every day.

She won't forget those reluctant heroes.

She will make sure no one does.


End file.
